What She Does Not Understand
by Pink Wolf Princess
Summary: Regina tries to break Belle with her words, but ends up only giving her strength in herself and her bond to Rumpelstiltskin.


All right, I'm jumping onto the Rumbelle bandwagon. YAY! This take on the fairy tales belongs to Disney. I'm going to pretend Belle remembers here.

Edited by talkstoangels77.

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><p>Usually a brief, callous stare was enough for the Queen. Belle had no idea how long she's been locked away in this white cell- it felt like decades, but it couldn't be that long. She hadn't changed enough, physically, for that to be true. She used to try to keep track, scratching marks on the wall with the spoon that came with dinner. But then the Queen's workers moved her to a padded cell whose walls she couldn't mark.<p>

So now Belle daydreamed, remembered, wished, wondered her days away. If she was sure no one was around, she danced. And if she couldn't sleep in the darkest part of the night, she sung under her breath.

Oddly, the times when the Queen tried to break her with words are her fondest memories of this place. Sometimes the Queen just didn't get human nature- she got its dark side enough to manipulate people, but she couldn't understand what humanity is truly capable of. By trying to weaken her, the Queen was only giving Belle strength.

**He's so miserable.**

_He misses you._

**He thinks you're dead- gone forever.**

_If he knew you were alive, he'd be here in a heartbeat._

**He thought he could offer you a home when I told him- mostly- what happened to you.**

_He wanted me back. Maybe he still does…_

**He's so broken that his favorite thing is a broken teacup. How… foolish of him.**

_He treasures the cup you broke that first day above anything else._

**No one knows the truth- except me.**

_He might have consciously forgotten you, but part of him must remember._

Belle never spoke, never corrected her. It was easier, safer, that way. Though she did want to know why everyone had forgotten, what they should have forgotten. She suspected that Rumpelstiltskin could be fooling the Queen; mischief, spinning, and deals were what he did best, after all.

These thoughts strengthened her, let her know there was someone out there who did care for her. That Rumpelstiltskin might love her, even. He certainly was regretting something about their parting judging by the Queen's words. Sometimes, when Belle kept quiet too long for her liking, the Queen would rage about her lack of response- she would claim Belle was rotting away and it was his fault.

Belle was not rotting away. She was waiting for a chance to find her destiny. And as for fault, neither she nor Rumpelstiltskin was blameless but it was evident to Belle that the Queen was the one who tricked them. They had let themselves be tricked, but since it was the first time: shame on her, not on them.

Then, she came one sunny day while Belle was basking in its faint light. She couldn't see anything but a tiny patch of sky, but there were clouds that were constantly shifting in shape. Rather like Rumpelstiltskin's moods, actually.

And the Queen turned her spark of hope that she had been tending so carefully for so long into a bonfire that filled her with warmth.

**He's in jail now, due to the lengths he went getting back that ridiculous teacup.**

_He got back something that reminded him of you no matter the cost._

**Your father is in the hospital now, because of him.**

_Rumpelstiltskin hates your father for what he did to you._

**I knew he'd go to any length to get that broken teacup back- I suppose you broke it, you clumsy girl?**

_It's so obvious he cares about you- maybe even loves you- that I, the Evil Queen, can see it._

As her heels clicked away, the Queen muttered something in an almost fearful tone. Thanks to her long imprisonment, Belle's hearing had sharpened. So she heard one last key message.

**He remembers.**

_He remembers YOU._

Belle smiled wide- the sort of smile she had last given in Rumpelstiltskin's castle. She had a reason to keep going, to find a way out eventually. Because he did love her, whether or not he had accepted it. Judging from the teacup incident, though, it sounded like he had. There was no way Belle would let true love escape her twice, because that would definitely be shame on her.


End file.
